[Elena's POV]

In my previous life, I hadn't been this meek and accommodating. I'd been proud, stubborn, and unyielding. I would never have allowed anyone to trample my dignity.

I hadn't believed for a second that the text was from my so-called son from the future. It hadn't taken me long to find out it was nothing more than a prank Eva had carefully planned. I'd dug up the evidence and gone to confront her, only to walk in on her and Giuliano entangled in bed.

Giuliano had grabbed me in a panic and tried to explain. He'd claimed he was only "teaching her a lesson". He'd said I was the only one in his heart and that getting close to Eva was just part of his revenge.

But I'd been rational and clear-headed. How could I have possibly believed something that ridiculous?

I'd lost it and caused a hysterical scene, exposing every filthy, disgusting thing Eva had ever done to the world.

Backed into a corner, Eva had snapped. She'd gotten into a car in the middle of the night and driven straight at me.

The tires had crushed my body. My baby's heart had stopped beating on the spot, and the nerves in my legs had been severed for good. I'd ended up crippled for life.

I'd hated Eva down to my bones and had thrown everything I had into trying to make her pay. However, Giuliano had been the chosen heir of the Corleone family. With just one word from him, no one had dared to avenge me.

He'd stepped up in person to tell the outside world that my injuries had been from a simple fall, that they'd had nothing to do with Eva. He'd even spread rumors that I was mentally unstable, delusional, and maliciously framing an innocent person.

In the end, he'd also been the one to send me to the family's private psychiatric hospital. It was a "sanctuary" the mafia family kept completely off the radar.

I'd been locked away there for seven whole years. My mother hadn't had anyone to look after her or pay her treatment bills. Not long after I'd been admitted, she'd died with resentment still in her heart.

By the time I finally made it out of the psychiatric hospital and learned the news of her death, I'd jumped from a high-rise building.

I would never forget any of that.

When she was still a minor, Eva had gone street-racing. Drunk on speed, she'd crashed into Giuliano's mother, killing her on the spot.

Because of the Bianchi family's power and the huge sum they'd paid in compensation, the Corleone family hadn't pursued the matter. Instead, they'd smoothed it over and buried the entire incident.

It was my mother who'd taken Giuliano in when he was drowning in despair, stumbling through his days like a ghost. And it was me who'd stayed by his side, pulling him out of the darkness little by little, walking with him all the way to where he was now.

But in the end, for the sake of the woman who'd killed his mother, he'd destroyed me, my mother, and everything we'd ever had.

I was full of hate and regret. Thankfully, the heavens had given me a second chance at life.

In my previous life, I'd thought that Giuliano was just bewitched by Eva. I'd thought he hadn't had a choice because she refused to leave him alone.

It wasn't until after I'd died that I finally understood he'd genuinely fallen in love with her—the woman who'd killed his mother.

For Eva, he hadn't hesitated for a second to sacrifice my mother and me.

In this life, I refused to be the third wheel standing in the way of their epic love story. If they loved each other that much, I would just step aside and let them be together. I only hoped they wouldn't regret it.

I dragged my thoughts back to the present and looked up at Giuliano, meeting his eyes that were full of shock and confusion. He asked, "Elena, why have you suddenly… turned into this?"

My nails dug hard into my palm, nearly breaking the skin, yet I still kept a gentle smile on my face. "You've always hated her, haven't you? I'm your fiancee. Of course, I should be on your side and help you get what you want."

"Now, you're being smart." Eva snorted.

She picked up a shoe and flung it at me without the slightest courtesy, her tone arrogant and bossy. "Why are you still standing there? Go clear out the bedroom for me."

The way she strutted around, so mean and entitled, made me want to lunge at her and tear her to shreds right then and there.

But before I could move, Giuliano's expression darkened. He snarled, "That's enough, Eva. Don't take things too far!"

She wasn't the least bit afraid. In fact, she kicked over the fruit platter on the coffee table, her tone downright defiant. "I'll take things as far as I want. What are you going to do about it?"

Giuliano strode forward, grabbed her roughly, and dragged her toward the stairs. He growled, "This is my turf and my house. Drop your spoiled-princess act here! I'm going to make sure you understand who really calls the shots here, you wretch!"

I followed without thinking, but the second I reached the bedroom door, I froze. The two people who'd been at each other's throats just moments ago were now tangled up on the bed, limbs wrapped tightly around each other.

Giuliano leaned down and kissed Eva's neck with a feral hunger, his voice low and edged with violence. "Just wait. I'm going to make you beg me in tears."

She looped her arms around his neck and deliberately glanced toward the doorway, flashing me a triumphant smile amid her moans and gasps.

"Come on, babe. I want to see if you really have what it takes to make me beg."

It felt like a sharp needle had been driven straight into my heart. I yanked my gaze away. Inside my chest was nothing left but a numb, icy emptiness.

Sure enough, everything was unfolding exactly as it had in my previous life. Not a single detail had changed.

I turned around, went back downstairs, and quietly started packing my things.

[Elena's POV]

Giuliano only came downstairs once everything upstairs had finally gone quiet, looking completely satisfied. There was a hint of guilt on his face as he said, "Elena, don't overthink it. You're the only one in my heart. Everything I'm doing now is just to get back at Eva."

I'd heard enough of that disgusting nonsense in my previous life. I swallowed down my mockery. Before I could say anything, he noticed the suitcase by my feet.

His eyes widened, and he grabbed my wrist in a crushing grip, like he meant to grind my bones to dust. "Elena, why have you packed your things?"

I gently pulled my hand free, my expression calm and unreadable. "Eva's going to be living here, isn't she? I'll move my things to the servants' room. It'll be more convenient."

The tension in Giuliano's shoulders visibly eased. He followed me as I walked into the cramped, narrow servants' room.

While I folded a few simple changes of clothes, I said evenly, "Tomorrow, let's go see the Don and the council and dissolve our engagement."

Giuliano frowned deeply. After a moment of silence, he softened his tone and said, "Elena, if you don't want to end things, we can still go ahead with the wedding. Publicly, you'll still be my wife. I'm only registering my marriage with Eva to control her and get revenge on her."

I straightened up and gave him a faint smile. "That won't be necessary. I believe you, Giuliano."

With a numb, practiced familiarity, I repeated the lines he'd fed me over and over. "You hate Eva to the core. She's the one who killed your mother. She's also the one who spread rumors and slander, who made my mother so angry she's been bedridden ever since. You won't let her off the hook, right?"

Having his own words thrown back at him made his face twist with embarrassment. He could only give me a stiff nod.

Maybe it was because of the weight of his guilt, but before he left, he transferred a large sum of money into my account. It was enough to pay for all of my mother's medical expenses.

That worked just fine for me. Once my mother was in stable condition, I would take her far away from this filthy, godforsaken city and never come back.

It wasn't long before Eva's imperious voice sounded again, ordering me upstairs to tidy up the bedroom for her.

The moment I pushed open the door, the thick, cloying haze of sex hit me in the face. I'd already made up my mind to let go, but my heart still twisted in my chest, completely beyond my control.

I forced down the sting in my nose, kept my gaze straight ahead, and grabbed the tangled, dirty sheets and duvet. Then, I turned to leave.

Eva suddenly stuck out a foot, deliberately blocking my path.

"How pathetic," she drawled, her contempt utterly undisguised as a lazy smile played on her lips. "The man you've given your whole heart to is nothing more than a well-trained dog groveling at my feet.

"Oh, right." She deliberately stretched out the words, gloating like a victor flaunting her spoils. "I sent that text that told you to get an abortion on a whim. Giuliano knew about it from the very beginning. Do you wanna know why he keeps letting me do what I want?"

I stared straight at her, my eyes turning to ice.

Eva's smile widened, her every word a knife to my heart. "Because I'm pregnant. To Giuliano, only my baby is a true symbol of love. As for that child of yours who never made it into this world, it was nothing but a worthless piece of trash."

A tidal wave of rage crashed over me, burning everything in its path. Eva had ruined my life and destroyed my family. Now, she was trampling on the memory of my dead child.

I raised my hand high, ready to slap her as hard as I could. Before my palm could even land, her eyes instantly reddened. Her expression flipped in a heartbeat as she let out a broken, tearful wail.

"Exactly! What does my fight with my family have to do with you? With your background, do you really think you can boss me around and tell me what to do?"

I was taken aback. The very next second, a tremendous force slammed into me, sending me flying backward. I stumbled, crashed to the floor, and smashed my lower back against the edge of the coffee table. White-hot pain ripped through my body. All the color drained from my face.

I looked up and met Giuliano's eyes. They were bloodshot, furious, and almost feral.

"Elena, how can you be so vicious? How dare you bully her the second I'm not around!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he seemed to notice something off about my expression and hesitated, as if he might apologize.

Eva immediately clutched at his shirt, curling in on herself like she was in agony, her voice weak and pitiful. "Giuliano, my stomach hurts… Our baby… I don't think our baby is going to make it…"

In an instant, Giuliano pushed all thoughts of me out of his mind. He scooped Eva into his arms, cradling her like she was the most fragile treasure on earth. Then, he bolted for the door like a madman.

"Elena, if anything happens to her or the baby, I'll make you suffer a fate worse than death!" he roared.

A fate worse than death, huh? In my previous life, he'd kept his word.

I stared at Giuliano's back as he left without looking back. At long last, the tears I'd been holding back slipped free, silently soaking my face.

My phone suddenly rang, the sharp sound slicing through the air. It was a call from the hospital. A suffocating sense of dread surged up from the depths of my chest, threatening to swallow me whole.

[Elena's POV]

My hands were shaking as I answered the call. On the other end, the nurse's voice was rushed and panicked. "Ms. Romano, you need to come to the hospital right away! Mrs. Romano has taken a sudden turn for the worse. She needs emergency surgery!"

I broke out in a cold sweat and practically tumbled my way out of the estate, rushing to the hospital like a madwoman. Once all the paperwork was done, the nurse told me I needed to pay the surgery fees immediately.

I relaxed a little. Thankfully, Giuliano had transferred a large sum of money to me.

But a second later, I froze in place, the color draining from my face. My voice trembled, and I could barely stand upright. "What did you say? My card doesn't work?"

The nurse gave me a pitying look and gently repeated, "I'm sorry, miss. Your account has been frozen."

This was Giuliano's doing. He'd personally frozen the money I was going to use to save my mother.

My hands were shaking as I called him over and over like a lunatic. On the other end, his lazy, indifferent voice came through the receiver. "You found out? Don't blame me for this, Elena.

"You knew Eva was pregnant, yet you still deliberately provoked her. I'm only teaching you a tiny lesson this time so you'll stop causing trouble."

None of his excuses registered in my mind anymore. All I knew was the despair that washed over me and that I had to plead with him.

"Giuliano, my mother needs surgery. She's dying! Please, transfer some money to me. She's your mother's best friend. She treated you so well back then—she saved your life!" I begged, my voice cracking.

There was a moment of silence on the other end. Then, Eva's mocking laugh came through the phone. "You're the only one dumb enough to fall for such a pathetic trick. I think she's just jealous of how well you treat me and wants to scam you for sympathy."

Giuliano's tone instantly became cold and hard. "If you want my money, Elena, then you can start by begging Eva to forgive you."

With that, he tossed his phone to Eva. She picked it up and aimed the camera at herself, tapping the screen with a slender finger, drawing out her words on purpose. "Oh, you poor thing. Go on, beg me. Maybe if you're sincere enough, I'll take pity on you and help you out."

I didn't hesitate for even a second. I dropped to my knees with a heavy thud before the phone, slapping myself again and again. "Please, I'm begging you."

As long as I could save my mother, my pride was worthless.

Eva laughed so hard she almost doubled over. "That's nowhere near sincere enough. I checked—there's only about six miles between us. If you kneel your way over here and beg me in person, maybe I'll say yes then."

She didn't hang up. I understood every ounce of her malice. Holding the phone, I started forward, falling to my knees and prostrating myself with each step, dragging myself along the ground.

Six miles wasn't a long distance, but it felt like my knees were shattering with every step. Blood slowly seeped through my pants, the red stain spreading to form a horrible sight.

I kneeled my way through the entire night. By the time the sky started to pale with the first light of dawn, I finally crawled to the private hospital where Eva was.

My throat felt scorched and raw, like it had been burned from the inside out. I forced each word out, hoarse and broken. "I'm begging you… Please, save my mother… She's the only family I have left…"

Eva held up the phone and waved it in front of Giuliano, her face twisted in disgust. "Look at your fiancee. For money, she's thrown away every ounce of dignity. She's kneeling outside and refuses to get up."

Giuliano didn't spare me a single glance. His voice was low and ice-cold as he said, "Since you like kneeling so much, Elena, you can stay on your knees. You almost caused Eva to miscarry. I'm not giving you a single cent."

My vision went dark around the edges, and my heart plummeted into a bottomless abyss.

Just then, my phone rang again. My hands were shaking so badly that I could barely hold it; I was too afraid to answer the call.

It soon cut off. A second later, a text from the hospital popped up on my screen. "Ms. Romano, our condolences. Mrs. Romano has passed away."

A roaring filled my head, and everything went blank. A metallic taste rushed up my throat, and I suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

My only family, the last light I'd had in this world, was gone.

With the very last bit of strength I had left, I pushed myself up from the ground and staggered back toward the hospital where my mother was.

A white sheet had been pulled over her body. Her face was ashen, and she was utterly still. I threw myself onto her, clutching her cold body.

So this was what grief at its extreme felt like—so deep and all-consuming that not a single tear would come.

People around me were talking, but I couldn't hear any of it. All I could do was hold on to my mother, because it felt like the moment I let go, my soul would die with her.

I numbly finished all the procedures, sent her body to be cremated, then carried the cold urn of ashes back to that disgusting estate.

I gently stroked the urn, my voice as soft as a sigh. "Mom, I'm taking you away from here."

I quickly packed what few belongings I had and left a signed declaration on the table, formally dissolving my engagement with Giuliano.

Then, I walked out the door without another look back.

Goodbye, Giuliano. From this moment on, we would be strangers for the rest of our lives.